Friday After Next (2002)

"Friday After Next is the coal in your stocking for the holiday season.  James Brundage, filmcritic.com
"A whole lot foul, freaky and funny.  Yvonne Dennis, Philadelphia Daily News
"...frenetic, slapstick Christmas comedy...  Jonathan Curry, San Francisco Chronicle

Editor's Note It is Christmas Eve for most of the Christian world, but when Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) are rudely awaken by a burglar in a Santa suit, it is definitely another FRIDAY in the ghetto. The phony Santa gets away with all the cousins' Christmas gifts and their overdue rent money after assaulting Craig with a paltry Christmas tree. Cops are called in and do little more than confiscate Craig and Day-Day's pot stash. Though the cousins may be used to such adversity in the 'hood, they have never before had to think about getting real jobs in order to pay the bills. This third installment in the hip-hop stoner series follows L.A.'s lovable losers through their first day as rent-a-cops at a South Central strip mall. As each problem they encounter becomes more and more ridiculous, screenwriter and star Ice Cube and first-time director Mark Raboy have constructed an irreverent African-American holiday farce. The film builds to a fever pitch at a holiday party where nearly every character in the film shows up for a wild finale. The supporting cast delivers outrageously amusing portraits of ghetto stereotypes while composer John Murphy paces the film by deftly blending hip-hop with traditional film scoring.

	Anna Maria Horsford
	Don 'D.C.' Curry
	Ice Cube
	John Witherspoon
	Mike Epps
	Glen MacPherson - Cinematographer
	Marcus Raboy - Director
	Suzanne Hines - Editor
	Toby Emmerich - Executive Producer
	John Murphy - Musical Score
	Matt Alvarez - Producer
	Ice Cube - Producer
	Amy Ancona - Production Designer
	D.J. Pooh - Writer
	Ice Cube - Writer

New York Times
"...The score sounds like a house-party mix....FRIDAY AFTER NEXT cranks up an impressive amount of energy..." 11/22/2002 p.E11

Los Angeles Times
"...Hilarious, rowdy....[With] gleeful low-down humor and a raft of uninhibited characters involved in one outrageous predicament after another..." 11/22/2002 p.C10

Box Office
"...This is all so insane it's actually funny..." 01/01/2003 p.60

Variety
"...[The] project does provide a sizable stage for performers Witherspoon, Curry and, especially, Williams, to strut and show off..." 11/25/2002 p.23

San Francisco Examiner 7 of 10
Writer Cube and director Marcus Raboy vigorously mix Christmas cheer and and real life, and the result is as tasty as eggnog spiked with whiskey. Likewise, the soundtrack blends comfy, traditional R&B Christmas tunes (Eartha Kitt, The Temptations) with more abrasive gangsta-style music. - Jeffrey Anderson

L.A. Times 7 of 10
The hilarious, rowdy Friday After Next finds its writer and co-producer Ice Cube returning as Craig, the likable if not overly responsible hero of its predecessors, Friday, which helped launch Chris Tucker, and Next Friday, which introduced a new sidekick, Day-Day (Mike Epps), Craig's headstrong cousin. Fast and raunchy, Friday After Next surely stands apart from other holiday-themed movies for its gleeful low-down humor and a raft of uninhibited characters involved in one outrageous predicament after another. - Kevin Thomas